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Biggles and the Deep Blue Sea/plot
Chapter 1: A Talk About Islands Air Commodore Raymond wants Biggles to fly to Jean Bonney Island, a remote volcanic outcrop in the Bay of Bengal. During the Second World War the British forces had established an airstrip there to serve as a refuelling stop for aircraft between India and lower Burma. The facility was thought to have been long abandoned. However, more recently, one Squadron Leader Stonehouse, a former service pilot and now a retired City of London financier, had sailed in the area in his luxury yacht and had sighted an aircraft, headed, it seemed, for nowhere. When Stonehouse's report reached the Air Ministry, officials ther determined, from its position and heading, that it might have been going towards Jean Bonney Island. This cause concern in the Colonial Office. Who was the pilot and what was he doing on the island? Biggles is, of course, not keen to go, but the other three all are. Since Biggles intends to only take one, they draw lots and Algy wins. Chapter 2: The Lonely Isle Taking the Gadfly, Biggles and Algy depart from Calcutta and reach Jean Bonney Island. They don't seriously expect to find anyone there but Algy thinks he sees someone dashing to hide in one of the old nissan huts. They put down on the lagoon and explore the island Sure enough, they find a man inside one of the nissan huts, pretending to work on a sea shell. But the man doesn't say much beyond the fact that he doesn't need any help or rescue from Biggles. Chapter 3: Clarence Collingwood Crusoe Biggles and Algy explore the next nissan hut and find digging implements and a strange lump of dark greyish mud. they decide speak to the man again. But the man is unfriendly to the point of being hostile. He says his name is Clarence Collingwood and he is a biologist. He had been a pilot during the war and had flown to the island and liked the place. He would not be drawn as to what he is doing. Chapter 4: Night Alarm No visit to a tropical island would be complete without the nightly attack by a sea monster and here it comes. But this is not as violent as the ones in Biggles in Australia or Beauty and the Beast. The decapod this time doesn't get its tentacles around the tail or anything like that. Algy spots a lump along the reef heading for the Gadfly, Biggles goes up to it and shoots it between the eyes and that is that. Chapter 5: More Problems the next morning Biggles and Algy confront Collingwood. He obviously know about decapods but didn't bother to warn them. Biggles tells him they are Scotland Yard officers but this has no effect--they are a long way from Scotland Yard, he tells them. Going back to the Gafly, they find the mooring rope cut and the aircraft adrift in the lagoon and have to rush to clamber on board and secure it before it is smashed against the coral. Now there is proof that a second person is on the island! Chapter 6: Mystery After Mystery Biggles explores the island and finds a small plantation where some plants are being cultivated. He then spots Collingwood going into a small valley to reappear with another man. Looking about the valley, he finds a small hole which had been dug into the side of the valley but there is no clue as to what the two men had been digging for. Returning to the lagoon, he finds the Gadfly had been moved from the water and is now on a beach of coral sand. Did Algy have trouble? Chapter 7: Worry for Algy What happened to Algy was really simpler than Biggles had feared. A shark had entered the lagoon and started bumping the hull. To avoid damage, Algy had obliged to start up and taxy onto a beach. Chapter 8: Food for Thought Biggles tells Algy what he has found. First there is a small plantation where hemp is being grown for the production of hashish. Second there seems to be a mine but he is still unclear what Collingwood is digging for. On the face of it, the discoveries are puzzling: why would Collingwood be running two different rackets? But further discussion is prevented by the arrival of Collingwood's partner who reveals himself to be an Arab named Ali. All he wants to do is warn Biggles and Algy to leave the place for their own safety. Biggles tries to elicit more information from him but Collingwood arrives and will say nothing more either, other than that they should heed Ali's advice. Chapter 9: Heavy Weather Ahead Biggles decides what he would do next: cut down the hemp. Since it is illegal to grow it on British territory, he would be within his rights to do so. The weather seems to be taking a turn for the worse but leaving Algy to secure the Gadfly, Biggles sets off with a large knife and cuts all the hemp down. He returns and is surprised to find Collingwood now helping Algy tie down the Gadfly to weather the storm. Collingwood what he has just done. There are some hostile Arabs arrving soon on a dhow. They were the growers of the hemp and they would surely kill Biggles and Algy for cutting down hemp crop. Collingwood expects he would be killed too. But the storm is imminent and it begins to hail so Collingwood invites them to shelter in his nissan hunt. Chapter 10: Collingwood Talks Collingwood explains why he is really on Jean Bonney island. He is Australian by birth. When he was young, his father took him on a long road trip to visit a relative and they passed through Cooper Pedy where they met opal miners, or "gougers". One of them gave Collingwood a piece of small opal for luck and this ignited a burning ambition in him to become an opal miner. Many people thought opals were unlucky but he didn't believe it. It wasn't a matter of money, he stresses to Biggles. Most "gougers" did it because they were simply fascinated by the beauty of the gems. The Second World War began and Collingwood had to set aside his ambition. He joined the R.A.F. and ended up being posted to Jean Bonney island. Chapter 11: Collingwood Ends His Tale Jean Bonney Island was a boring posting so Collingwood spent most of his time exploring the island and, to his surprise, he discovered opals in the hollow at one end of the island. After the war ended, Collingwood was at first unable to afford the passage back to the island. However, he had a stroke of luck when he met one Murdo Mackay, an R.A.F. pilot who had used the landing strip at Jean Bonney. Mackay now flew for Indian Airlines and also had his own private aircraft, so Collingwood made a deal with him to fly him to the island and retrieve him later, in exchange for half of whatever he found. Mackay flew Collingwood to Jean Bonney and there things became more complex. After a month digging alone, an Arab dhow landed some men on the island. Fortunately one of the Arabs, Ali, spoke english and had been one of the labourers working on Jean Bonney during the war. He helped Collingwood negotiate a detente with the Arabs. The Arabs wanted to plant hemp. Collingwood wanted to dig and they agreed that neither would interfere nor tell on each other. The dhow left, leaving Ali to tend the hemp crop. Later Collingwood treaded food with Ali in exchange for his help in digging for opals. Collingwood shows them a box of opals--his booty so far. Chapter 12: Plans and Speculation With the storm over, they go off to inspect the damage. The Gadfly has been hold in a few places by hail but can be repaire. The bad news is there is a dhow heading for the island. The Arabs are returning and will surely find out about the hemp! Fortunately they can't enter the lagoon yet because of the rough sea. They go off in search of Ali and find him inside the mine buried in a landslide. They dig him out. While helping Ali out, Biggles finds a piece of opal which Collingwood says he will polish for him. Chapter 13: Murder Most Foul Biggles and Algy spend the morning repairing the Gadfly. The dhow puts down a boat loaded with men which heads for the reef. Suddenly it is dragged down and capsized by a giant tentacle--another decapod! Only one man survives. He swims to the shore to be met by Ali. Puzzled why Collingwood has not showed up, Algy goes to look for him and finds him dead. He has been murdered. It must be Ali! Collingwood's box of opals is gone. Chapter 14: Death Strikes Again Biggles goes off in search of Ali and he finds him in his palm-frond shelter, also stabbed to death! The box of opals is gone but Biggles finds a gem in his kafieh. It's the one Biggles had found and which Collingwood said he would polish for him. Biggles has no use for opals and he tosses it into the sea. Then he sets off for the Gadfly at the run. Ali's murderer must have been the Arab who survived the boat wreck. He might be heading for Algy to do him harm! Chapter 15: And Again Biggles and Algy spot the Arab carrying Collingwood's box and set off in pursuit. The Arab finds himself cornered on the reef and jumps into the lagoon and makes for the opposite shore. He might have thought he would be safe but he didn't reckon on meeting a shark! Unwilling to abandon the box, he cannot swim very fast. So now it is his turn to be killed. The shark must have swallowed the box, which, for Biggles, is a good place for it to remain. Chapter 16: Stranger Than Fiction Biggles and Algy awake the next morning to find that the dhow has made its way into the lagoon. The men on the dhow confront them: where is Ali? Biggles explains that Ali killed Collingwood because of his box of opals. The man who survived the boat capsize then killed Ali. The dhow crewmen had seen the man being attacked by the shark so they know how he ended up. The men on dhow seem satsified and go their own way. Meanwhile, Biggles and Algy bury Collingwood's body and then clear the runway--just in case Mackay comes back. They do not want a fellow pilot to meet with an accident. They return to the lagoon to see a strange spectacle: the men on the dhow have trailed a line and are attempting to fish for the shark! The Arabs succed. They haul the shark on board, cut it open and take the box. The dhow then sets sail for the open sea. So that's that. Not quite. Exiting the lagoon, the dhow is hit by a few strong waves and smashed against the reef. There's nothing Biggles and Algy can do so they take off and make for Calcutta. They would notify the authorities who would send out a ship to pick up survivors if any. Chapter 17: Bonney has the Last Word At Calcutta, Biggles and Algy find Mackay and tell him what Collingwood was doing on the island and what happened to him. Mackay says that relieves him of the responsibiity of going back for him. That might have ended the story, but a few months later, Biggles and Algy meet an Indian Airlines pilot at the Royal Aero Club and ask about Mackay. Apparently he had gone missing while flying towards Jean Bonney Island. It looked like he couldn't resist the temptation after all. Biggles stops Algy before he can mention opals and the bad luck they bring. All coincidences, he insists. Category:Plot summaries